Regarding the economy, we have come to expect the unexpected which is, it sometimes seems, the only thing one can count on. For instance, Shobhana Chandra of Bloomberg is reporting today that:
“Industrial production in the U.S. unexpectedly declined in August for the first time in seven months as automobile making cooled. Output at factories, mines and utilities fell 0.1 percent after a 0.2 percent gain the prior month that was smaller than previously reported, figures from the Federal Reserve showed today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 79 economists called for a 0.3 percent rise. Automakers scaled back following the biggest surge in almost five years.”
